Incoming University of Michigan president Kent Syverud is bowing out of the job a month before he was set to take office after being diagnosed with brain cancer, he announced Wednesday.
Syverud, chancellor of Syracuse University, was set to join Michigan in May.
“Last week, I wasn’t feeling well, and I sought care at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse. After further evaluation, I traveled to the University of Michigan to receive additional assessment from their specialists. I want to be straightforward with you: I have been diagnosed with a form of brain cancer,” Syverud said in a Wednesday morning announcement through the University of Michigan.
Syverud added that has undergone treatment at both Michigan and Crouse Hospital, making a point to emphasize the importance of research universities in shaping health care.
“I also find myself reflecting on what this moment has made so vivid to me: the extraordinary gift of great research universities,” he wrote. “These institutions, places like Syracuse, like Michigan, exist not only to educate and to discover, but to translate that discovery into care for people when they need it most. I am fortunate, in ways I do not take lightly, to be receiving treatment at one of the finest academic medical centers in the world. That is what research universities make possible. I have spent my career believing in that mission deeply, and I believe in it more than ever now.”
Syverud added that while his brain cancer diagnosis and treatment “will prevent me from serving as the 16th President of the University of Michigan,” the Board of Regents has invited him to join the faculty ranks as a professor in the law school and to serve as a special adviser to the board. Syverud earned both his juris doctor and a master’s degree in economics at UM and previously taught at the law school from 1987 to 1997.
Syverud shared a similar message with the Syracuse community.
Michigan regents plan to launch a new executive search soon, with details to be shared “in the coming days,” according to their statement. Meanwhile, the regents said their focus is on supporting Syverud as he undergoes treatment.
“Today, our thoughts and prayers are with Kent, his family and those who care for them. We know how deeply Kent loves Michigan. And we love him. His decency. His integrity. His intellect, and his values. We are committed to honoring these values as we move forward together,” board chair Mark J. Bernstein wrote in a statement signed by other regents.
As Michigan sets out on its next presidential search, interim leader Dominic Grasso, a former UM Dearborn chancellor, is approaching a year on the job. Both he and the board noted in statements released Wednesday that he will continue to serve as the presidential search gets underway.
“We remain a place of hope and promise—values that feel even more meaningful today,” Grasso wrote.
Syverud, a legal scholar, previously led law schools at Washington University in St. Louis and Vanderbilt University before taking the top job at Syracuse in 2014. His unexpected withdrawal means that Michigan has been without a permanent leader since last May, when then-president Santa Ono stepped down to unsuccessfully pursue the University of Florida presidency. Ono was in the Michigan job for less than three years after replacing Mark Schlissel, who was fired as president in January 2022 after having an affair with a subordinate. Schlissel later returned to a faculty position.
Syverud’s resignation also marks further turnover in the Big Ten, a conference where leadership has changed frequently. Not counting Syverud, who was never formally in the job, eight of the 18 presidents or chancellors at Big Ten member institutions have left since early 2025, with a ninth to exit in June.
Syverud’s pre-emptive resignation bears similarities to the situation Northwestern University faced in 2022, when incoming president Rebecca Blank backed out after receiving a cancer diagnosis.
News of Syverud’s diagnosis prompted an outpouring of support on Wednesday.
“I’m deeply saddened to wake up to the news that my lifelong mentor, Kent Syverud, was diagnosed with brain cancer,” Mike Spivey, CEO of the admissions-focused Spivey Consulting Group, wrote on LinkedIn. “I can say two things with certainty. My career is what it is because of Kent. And that if there is anyone on this planet who can approach a diagnosis like this with courage and serenity it is him. My thoughts are with his entire family who I love dearly.”
New York governor Kathy Hochul also expressed support for Syverud.
“Kent Syverud has been a steady leader for Syracuse University and a champion for its students, faculty, and community,” Hochul wrote in a statement posted on X. “My thoughts are with him and his family as he begins this fight. We are all rooting for his strength and recovery.”
